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STEPHENS. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap..^.}:. Copyright No. 



SheltiC^-S) ^1 



UN3TED STATES OF AMERICA, 



1 



Infant Church Membership. 



A DISCUSSION OF 



THE ORIGIN AND CONTINUITY OF THE CHURCH, 
AND THE BAPTISM OF INFANTS^ 



/ 



By Rev. J. V. Stephens, 

Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Cumberland Uniyereity. 



COPYRIGHTED. 



NASHVIIvLE, TENN.: ^H OM H - ^ " 



CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
1897. 



■ Ci-Sl 



INTRODUCTION. 



Some months ag-o the editor of The Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian requested me to write a series of articles for that 
paper on the subject of '' Infant Church Membership.** 
In complying- with that request it was my purpose both to 
popularize and condense, as far as possible, the voluminous 
matter on this subject. The treatment of this question, in 
these pag-es, is in no sense exhaustive; but on the contrary 
a g-reat deal that I would like to have said was shut out by 
the rules g-uiding- me in the preparation of the articles. 
Every one may not ag-ree with me as to what should have 
been included and what excluded in a treatise of this 
length. 

The discussions are now broug-ht together in this booklet, 
substantially as they appeared from week to week in the 
columns of The Cumberland Presbyterian, It is no easy 
matter to be original in the discussion of a question that 
has been so long under debate by leading scholars of the 
Church. If most of the arg-uments contained herein are 
not new to those who are familiar with the literature in- 
volved, it is hoped, nevertheless, that this little book may 
be of some service to those who have neither the time nor 
the means to wade throug^h the thousands of pages that 
bear directly or indirectly on *' Infant Church Member- 
ship." 



Theolog"ical Seminary, 
Ivebanon, Tenn., 

April, 1897. 



J. V. STEPHENS. 



tn% Library 



xi;Tf>>* 



INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP^ 



The relation of infant cliildren of members of the 
Chmx'h is clearly set forth in the early history^ of that 
institution. It is an element in the historj^ of the 
Church which can be easily traced from the days of Ab- 
raham down to the present time. It is generally ac- 
cepted that the children of the Hebrews sustained a pe- 
culiar relation to the Chm'ch. in ^dew of the covenant 
which God made with his people. This is assumed in 
the present discussion which, in a brief outUne, traces 
the subject down to about the close of the fourth cen- 
tury of the Christian era. The question is treated under 
the following heads: I. The Jewish Church; II. The 
Transition of the Jewish into the Christian Chui'ch; III. 
The Christian Church; lY. The Fathers on the Contin- 
uity of the Church; V. Baptism versus Circumcision; 
VI. The New Testament on the Question; and VII. The 
Fathers on the Baptism of Infants. 



L—THE JEWISH CHURCH. 



Dean Stanlev says that "the liistorv of the Jewish 
Church is divided into three great periods.'' He re- 
gards Abraham, "the first figure in the long succession 
which has never since been broken/^ as the "Father of 
the universal Church." The first great period closes 
with the establishment of the Monarchy. The second 
coincides with the Monarchy, closing with the fall of 
Judah; while the third begins with the Babylonian Cap- 



mFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 



tivity, and closes with the evolution of the Christian 
Church. 

Dr. Eichard Beard has well said: ''It the Hebrews, the 
descendants of Abraliam, did not constitute a Church, 
then there was no Church in the world previous to the 
time of Christ/' But the descendants of Abraham did 
constitute a Church. Stephen speaks of ''the Church 
(elcJclesia) in the wilderness'' (Acts vii. 38). The Greek 
word ekklesia occurs in the New Testament over one 
hundred times, and is translated ''Church'' every time 
except tliree, in which instances it is rendered "Assem- 
bly." Moreover ehlclesia of the New Testament corres- 
ponds to the word in the Old Testament which means 
"an assembly for divine worship." 

The writer of Hebrews (iii. 3-6) tells us that God es- 
tablished a "House/' in which Moses was a servant, and 
over which Christ presided. The "House" of Hebrews 
is the same thing as Stephen's "Church." This being 
true it follows that the Church existed in Egypt before 
the wilderness wanderings. On its Egyptian history 
Dr. Edersheim olfers the following: "Three great ob- 
servances here stand out prominently. Around them the 
faith and the worsliip alike of the ancient patriarchs, 
and afterwards of Israel, may be said to have clustered. 
They are: circumcision, sacrifices, and the Sabbath. We 
have direct testimony that the rite of circumcision was 
observed by Israel in Egypt." 

This Church can be traced further back than the 
Egyptian bondage. Paul informs us that the gospel 
was preached unto Abraham (Gal. iii. 8). There has 
been but one gospel. It was preached to Abraham, and 
has been preached ever since. Timothy Dwight main- 
tains that the work of Moses in the "House" of He- 



THE JEWISH CHURCH, 



brews, already mentioned, did not find its end "in it-^^lf 
but in what was to follow after him/' It has been the 
same ^'House'' (Church) from the days of Abraham un- 
til the present time; and Christ has been "over his own 
house'' through all these ages, both before and since his 
incarnation. 

It was God's plan to give the purest religion possible 
to the world. In order to do that it was necessary to de- 
velop a peculiar people — a nation wholly different from 
the nations about it. Professor Blaikie puts it thus: 
"It pleased God to make choice of a family to fulfill the 
high office of preserving pure and undefiled the true 
knowledge and worship of himself." Speaking of this 
family when it had developed into a nation, Professor 
McCurdy observes that "the greatest boon which any 
race or people ever conferred upon humanity, was that of 
religious truth and freedom, and this was the gift cf the 
Hebrews." 

God made a covenant with Abraham (Gen. xvii. 9-14). 
pTom this it is evident that the Hebrews and their in- 
fant children were members of this Church. According 
to the covenant " every man child " was to be cir- 
cimicised. Dr. Edersheim says: "In token of the es- 
tablished, covenant, God enjoined upon Abram and liis 
descendants the rite of circumcision as a sign and a seal." 
Professor Orelli gives the symbolical meaning of the rite 
in tills language: "The idea of bodily cleanliness forms 
the very basis, among the Israelites, for the religious nte 
of circumcision, but the idea of bodily cleanliness 
gradually grew into that of spiritual purity, such as was 
demanded of the chosen people of God: hence such ex- 
pressions as those in Jer. vi. 10; Lev. xxvi. 41, the non- 
circumcision of the ear, the heart, etc. Finally the act 



INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 



became the external token of the covenant between God 
and his people/^ 

It has been seen that the descendants of Abraham 
sustained a peculiar relation to the covenant by birth, 
and that the Hebrews clearly recosfnized infant church 
membership. It is a fact that Gentiles^ adults and in- 
fants, were on certain conditions admitted to member- 
ship in this Church. If the Gentiles did not sustain 
the relation by birth to the covenant, which the He- 
brews did, they could, nevertheless, be brought under 
its gracious privileges. Gentiles who abandoned their 
own for the Jewish rehgion were called proselytes. Be- 
fore inquiring how infants were made proselytes it will 
be necessary to consider how those who were able to 
choose for themselves became Jews. 

1. Adult Proselytes, — It seems that two clas'^es of 
proselytes were recognized. First, the "^^proselytes of 
the gate,^^ who professed their faith in the God of Israel, 
and merely bound themselves to the observance of the 
so-called seven N'oachic commandments; secondly, the 
^^proselytes of righteousness,^^ who became children of 
the covenant. It is the latter class only with which we 
are here concerned. 

Dr. Schurer says: ^^It would appear according to the 
talmud, that on the occasion of admitting proselytes 
strictly so called into the Jewish communion three 
things were necessary: (1) circumcision; (2) baptism; 
i. c, a bath with a view to Levitical purification; and 
(3) a sacrifice (literally, a gi^acious acceptance of blood). 
In the case of women only the last two were required." 
Dr. Alfred Edersheim, a scholarlv Jew, not only agre^ 
with Dr. Schurer, but affirms that '' all writers are 
agreed'' that the three things named aboye ^'were re- 



THE JEWISH CHURCH, 



quired for the admission of such proselytes ;^^ and he 
adds, '^If anything could have further enhanced the 
value of such proselytism, it would have bee^ its sup- 
posed antiquity. Tradition traced it up to Abraham 
and Sarah/^ 

Dr. William Wall wrote a very able "History of Infant 
Baptism/^ in which he quotes freely from the ablest au- 
thorities on this question. He gives the following from 
tlie great Jewish scholar, Maimonides: "And so in all 
ages when an ethnic is wilhng to enter the covenant, 
and gather himself under the wings of the majesty of 
God, and take upon him the yoke of the law, he must be 
circumcised, and baptized, and bring a sacrifice; or if 
it be a woman, be baptized, and bring a sacrifice. As it 
is written, as you are, so shall the stranger be. How are 
you? By circumcision and baptism and bringing of a 
sacrifice. So likewise the stranger (or proselyte) 
through all generations; by circumcision and baptisM., 
and bringing of a sacrifice.^^ It was claimed, "by three 
things, did Israel enter into the covenant, by circumcis- 
ion, and baptism, and sacrifice. Circumcision was in 
Egypt, as it is written. No uncircumcised person shall eat 
thereof. Baptism was in the wilderness just before the 
giving of the law: as it is written. Sanctify them to-day 
and to-morrow and let them wash their clothes. And sac- 
rifice; as it is said, And he sent youna men of the children 
of Israel which offered hurnt offerings J^ He continues: 
"This solemn baptizing of proselytes differed from the 
rest of their divers baptism (which St. Paul, Heb. ix. 10, 
says were customary amonsr the Jews) in this: that those 
others were upon new occasions of uncleanness, etc., 
many times repeated; but this was never given but once 
to one person. It was called (as Dr. Lightfoot shows) 



IXFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 



T)aptism for proselytism/' distinct from ^baptism far iin- 
cleanness/ " 

2. Infant Proselytes, — On this question, Dr. Wall 
gives the following Jewish authority: "If with a prose- 
lyte his sons and his daughters be made proselytes; 
that which is done by their father redound to their 
good /' The Jerusalem Misna says, ^•'that if a girl, born 
of heathen parents, be made a proselyte after she be 
thi^ee yeai's and a dav old, then she is not to have such 
and such privileges there mentioned;^' and that of the 
Babylon edition says, "that if she be made a proselyte 
before that age, she shall have the said piivileges/' 
These two authorities do not disagree. Their state- 
ments ai-e made from different points of view. Thus it 
is seen "that a child of never so little age misrht by 
their custom be made a proselytc.^^ The Gemara says, 
"they are wont to baptize such proselyte in infancv upon 
the profession of the House of Judgment (the court), 
for this is for his good. 

"And the gloss there (having first put in an ex- 
ception, that if the fatlier of the cliild be alive and 
present, the child is baptized at his request; but if not, 
on the profession of the court) comments thus on those 
words: They are wont to baptize, *^bec^use,' says the 
gloss, ^none is made a proselyte without circumcision and 
baptism.^ Upon the profession of the House of judg- 
ment. ^That is, the three men have the care of his 
baptism, according to the law of the baptism of prose- 
lytes, wliich requires three men, who do so become 
to him a father. And he is by them made a prose- 
lyte.' If a child were fatherless, and his mother brought 
him, they baptize him at her desire; but the court pro- 
fess for him, as the Gemara says.'^ 



THE JEWISH CHURCH, 



^'A proselyte that is under a^e thev are wont to bap- 
tize upon the knowledge (or profession) of the House of 
judgment (or court); because this is for his good'' 

We have already seen that ^*a child of never so little 
age might by their custom be made a proselyte." The 
following will show the age up to which children were 
baptized as infants: Any male child of such a pros- 
elji;e, that was under the age of thirteen years and a day, 
and females that were under twelve years and a day, 
they baptized as infants at the request and by the as- 
cent of the father, or the authority of the court; be- 
cause such an one was not yet the son of ascent, as 
they phrase it, i. e., not capable to give assent for liim- 
seK, but the thing is for his good. If they were above 
that age they consented for themselves." 

What has been said of the baptism of the children 
of prosehies has reference only to the children bom 
before the parents became proselytes, for those bom af- 
terwards were treated just as the children of the natural 
Jews. 

It is admitted generally that the infants of the Jews 
were members of the Jewish Chiu'ch. So there can be 
no question that infants were members of the Church 
in the days of our Savior. It has been shown that 
Gentiles w^ere made proseljiies to the Jewish religion, 
and that the infants of these proselytes were also made 
proselytes. Let the fact be noted that in the process 
of making tliese infants proselytes, they were baptized. 
The learned Dr. Lightfoot says: '"The baptizing of in- 
fants was a thing as well known in the Church of the 
Jews, as ever it has been in the Christian Church." 



%0 INFA^^T CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 



IL— TEE TRANSITION OF THE JEWISH 
INTO THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



Professor George P. Fisher says: ^^Christianity was 
born of Judaism: it was the offspring of the Old Tes- 
tament rehgion/^ Christ did not define the relation of 
the new to the old. Xaturally^ the expulsive power 
imder the ^Tew Dispensation^ gradually drove out those 
things wheieh were peculiar to the old dispensation, 
and wliich were in the way of the Churches becoming 
world-wide in its sympathy and endeavor. It is true 
that ^'Christ set forth the seminal ideas/*^ which would 
in time, come to control the Church, but his method was 
that of fulfillment rather tlian that of destruction. He 
said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or 
the prophets: I am not come to desti'oy, but to fulfill.'^ 

Christ did not formally abohsh the ceremonial law. 
His teachings clearly indicate that sacrifices and ritual 
observance generally would be subordinated to that 
which was higher. Nowhere did he command the non- 
observance of the temple worship. He had nothing to 
say about circumcision. "That a certain precedence be- 
longed to the JcAvs in respect to the opportunitj^ of hear- 
ing the gospel was recognized in his own method of pro- 
ceeding; but the gospel was to be preached to every crea- 
ture, and faith was made the condition of salvatoin.^' 

With no express command from the Lord to his disci- 
ples to cease worshiping in the temple, and practicing 
the rite of circumcision, we are not surprised that both 



THE TRANSITION OF THE CHURCH, 11 

were kept up by Jewish Christians for forty years — un- 
til the destruction of Jerusalem. And when we consid- 
er Jewish exclusiyeness, and the preference wliich the 
Master himself gave to the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel, we are not surprised that both time and provi- 
dential leading were necessary to bridge the chasm be- 
tween Jews and Gentiles. 

On tlie day of Pentecost the apostles were endowed 
with power from heaven in order that they might ]>e 
witnesses for Christ. Notwithstanding the fact that 
the commission directed them to "make disciples of all 
nations/^ it seems that their labors were confined to the 
Jews exclusively for about seven years. It was tliirteen 
years later before the council at Jerusalem decided that 
the Gentiles might be admitted to church membership 
without first becoming Jews. But even tMs did not 
end the controversy, which, as we learn from the Acts, 
and Paulas epistles, and the writings of the Fathers con- 
tinued many years more. It is our purpose to trace the 
most pronounced steps of this remarkable transition. 

1. The appointment of the seven deacons, — Among the 
early Christians at Jerusalem were two classes. (1) The 
native Jews of Palestine and those of foreign birth who 
adhered strictly to their customs and used tlie Hebrew 
Scriptures. (2) The Hellenistic Jews from foreign lands 
who spoke Greek, used the Septuagint instead of the 
Hebrew Bible, and whose mode of life and thinking were 
Grecized. This second class made a complaint that 
their poor did not receive their share of the common 
fund. This led to the appointment of the seven dea- 
cons (Acts vi). The appointment of these men had an 
outcome not anticipated. ^'It started the church on its 
mission to evangelize the world." It was this official 



12 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 



position wiiich brouglit Stephen forward, with his burn- 
ing eloquence, who was the forerunner of Paul, the 
great apostle to the Gentiles. 

2. Preaching tlie gospel to the Samaritans, — Stephen's 
zeal led to his martyrdom, and this in turn scattered the 
disciples abroad. "Philip went down to the city of Sa- 
maria, and preached Christ unto them.'' WTien the 
Church at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had re- 
ceived the word, "'they sent unto them Peter and John." 
The gift of the Holy Spirit was an unmistakable sign 
that God approved this course (Acts viii. 1-17). 

Professor J. M. Stifler verj' forcibly says: ^^God's 
purposes and God's plans are verj^ far reaching. We 
see now why the Samaritans were raised up more than 
six hundred years before, and why they had been pre^ 
sei'ved in their half and half character for centuries. 
They were neither Jews nor Gentiles. They were mid- 
way between these distant moral extremes. Jesus in hia 
ministry never went distinctly among the heathen, said 
he was commissioned only to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel (Matt xv. 2-1), but he honored these Samari- 
tans (John iv). And now God uses them as a sort of 
half-way house from those in the covenant to those who 
were outside of it. They were the ladder without 
which even the believing Jew, hampered a5 he was by 
his scruples, could not have got down to the uncircum- 
cised Gentile. The leap was too great. The gulf between 
the two extremes was social, religious, poKtical — ani 
the Samaritan bridg^ it. God plainly intended him 
for this from the first." 

3. Peter was sent hy the Lord t-o Cornelius, — Nothing 
short of divine direction would have led Peter to this 
Gentile. The divine approval was so manifest that the 



THE TRANSITION OF THE CHURCH, 13 

Jews were constrained to admit the correctness of Pe- 
ter^s course, but this did not mean to the Jews that the 
door was thrown open to all Gentiles (Acts x. 1 — xi. 18; 
;xv. 1; Gal. ii. 12). 

4. The Work of Hellenistic Jewish Christians. — Some 
of those who were scattered abroad on account of the 
persecution at Jerusalem went to Antioch and preached 
holdly to the Greek Gentiles as well as to the Jews. The 
result was that a great number of the heathen beliered 
and turned to the Lord. Barnabas was sent from Jeru- 
salem to Antioch. He brought Paul thither, and they 
two continued their work there for a year. Again, it 
was manifest that God had blessed this forward step in 
the imfolding of his plajis (Acts xi. 19-26). 

5. It was from Antioch that Barnaias and Saul, at 
the direction of the Holy Spirit, set out upon that first 
missionary journey, which was the next step in the 
transition (Acts xiii. xiv.). 

6. The Conference at Jerusalem. — Cert^n Judaizers 
went to Antioch and taught that the Gentiles must be- 
come Jews in order that they might be saved. Paul 
and Barnabas went ta Jeinsalem to confer with ^"^the 
apostles and elders about this question.^^ The conclu- 
sion reached was that there was no necessity for the 
Gentiles, who had turned to God, to be circumcised 
(Acts XV.). "The Gentile believers were looked upon 
as partakei*s of the great salvation, nothing being re- 
quired of them except what was required of proselytes 
of the gate. They are the Christian Diaspora — they are 
even called so by Peter in his first epistle — and a certain 
precedence belongs to the Mother Church, to the Jewish 
believers, as the first heirs of the promise. The temple is 
still the great sanctuary of worship.^^ 



14 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

r. PauVs rebuhe to Peter (Acts xv. 35; Gal. ii. 11-21). 
— Peter had eaten with the Gentiles, but when certain 
Judaizers came ^'he withdrew and separated liinmelf, 
fearing them which were of the circumcision/^ Peter's 
conduct effected Barnabas. ''This crisis moved Paul to 
rebuke Peter in the presence of the Church, for his cow- 
ardly and insincere compliance'' with the demands ol 
the Judaizers. 

8. The second and third missionary journeys of Paul 
exerted a great influence in tvidening the scope of the gos- 
pel as first viewed iy the Jewish Christians. — Paul mwe 
than any other one person was instrumental in bringing 
in the Gentiles. His conception of the mission of the 
Church was much broader than tliat of any other apoe- 
tie. His writings emphasize the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith, rather tham by the observance of the law. 

9. The fall of Jerusalem. — The temple remained 
through all tlie years up to Paul's final visit to Jerusa- 
lem ''the great sanctuary of worship.'' Professor 
Fisher says: "There is no doubt that providential events 
had a decisive influence in breaking up the allegiance 
to the old ritual, of those who were not hopelessly 
wedded to it. In the year 66, began the great war, 
when the Jews of Palestine flung themselves with reck- 
less courage into the deadly struggle with their Roman 
oppressors. In the year 70, Jerusalem was captured 
by Titus, and, amid horrible carnage, the temple wbb 
given to the flames." Thus the center of Jewish wor- 
ship was removed. In 133 A.D., Hadrian forbade the 
continuance of the rite of circumcision. He also built 
a heathen city on the site of Jerusalem. Dr. Emil 
Schurer says: "So long as Jerusalem lay in ruins, the 
Jews could cherish the hope of its restoration. The 



THE TRANSITION OF THE CHURCH. IS 

founding of a heathen eity^ the erection of a heathen 
temple on the holy place, put an end to these hopes iu 
a terrible manner." 

Dr. Gustavus Oehler writes: ^^ Jerusalem fell, because 
it knew not the time of her visitation (Luke xix. 44). 
Since these last words were spoken by her rejected Mes- 
siah (Matt, xxiii. 37 sq.), Jerusalem and the defiled tem- 
ple are dedicated to destruction: the kingdom of God 
shall be taken from the Jewish people, and given to the 
heathen (Matt. xxi. 43). From that time on, till the 
final ruin, the elected residue is gathered from the an- 
cient covenant people, which is to form the root of the 
new congregation of salvation, the branch into which 
the believing Gentiles were to be grafted. This congre- 
gation is now the Israel of God, which assumes all the 
prerogatives of the latter, becoming ^the chosen genera- 
tion, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar 
people' (1 Peter ii. 9), to which belong the divine prom- 
ises.'^ 

^The elect residue'' which had been ^^gathered from 
the ancient covenant people," and which formed ^^the 
root of the new congregation of salvation" was com- 
pletely cut ojff from Judaism, and thus the transition 
of the Jewish into the Christian Church was complete. 



16 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 



IIL—TEE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



We have already traced the transition of the Church 
from its Jewish into its Christian fomi. It is now in 
place to make some inquiries concerning the Church 
under the New Dispensation. Dr. Knapp says, ^"^ The 
Christian Church, in the widest sense, may be defined 
to be the whole number of those who agree in worship- 
ping God according to the doctrine of Jesus Christ/^ 
Dr. Neander maintains that Christ knew that the 
Word " contained the elements of a spiritual commun- 
ity that would burst asunder the confining forms of the 
Jewish Theocracy, and take all mankind into its wide 
embrace/^ Dr. Geikie thinks that the advent of the 
Messiah would ^" save Judaism from itself, by perpetuat- 
ing that which was permanent in it under his holy and 
spiritual reign.^^ Christ would discard all that was 
merely temporary and accidental in the Jewish Church, 
but at the same time he would bring into lasting prom- 
inence whatever of everlasting truth the Old Covenant 
contained. Dr. William Smith tells us that the Chris- 
tian Church "formed one body, like the congregation 
of the Jewish people, from which it derived both its 
name and the model of its constitution; ^^ and that it 
was " to replace Judaism as the witness for the one true 
God.^' 

The Christian Church, then, is not an organization 
wholly separate and distinct in its origin from the Jew- 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 17 

ish Church; but as we have seen^, the transition of the 
Jewish Church gave to the world the Christian Church. 
The Church is one and the same. It has undergone 
changes, but its identity has not been destroyed. 
As a matter of convenience we speak of it under the 
Old Covenant as the Jewish Church, and under the 
New Covenant as the Christian Church. That which 
was ^^ merely temporary and accidental ^^ under the Old 
Dispensation came in time to be discarded; while that 
^^ which was permanent in it ^^ passed over into the New 
Dispensation. Hence when we speak of the beginning 
of the Christian Church, we simply mean the opening 
of the New Dispensation, when the Church began ta 
lop off the "temporary and accidental,^^ but held on to- 
"that which was permanent; ^^ and added, from time 
to time, under the direction of Pro\ddence, other such 
things as were necessary to enable it to meet its new re- 
sponsibilities in its efforts at world-wide endeavor. 
Under the Old Dispensation the Church was confined 
to one nation, but under the New Dispensation there 
is no such thing as national lines. 

1. The Old Testament points to a development and 
growth of the Church, which we find fulfilled under the 
Neiv Covenant. — We would naturally expect the 
prophets to enlighten the people of the Lord in refer- 
ence to the future of his Church. In this we are not 
disappointed. 

(1) A new covenant was promised. " Behold, the 
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new cove- 
nant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
Judah ^^ (Jere. xxxi. 31). Note, that this new cove- 
nant was made with "the house of Israel,^^ and with 
" the house of Judah; ^^ hence the reference must be to 
2 



18 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 

a coming time when the Church shall be enlarged. 
The Bible Commentary saj^s: "The prophecy was ful- 
filled when those Jews who accepted Jesus of Nazareth 
as the Messiah^ expanded the Jewish into the Christian 
Church. ;Many commentators so write as if the Chris- 
tian Church were dilterent from the Jewish, and as if 
Gentiles had converted the Jews, and written for them 
the New Testament. Eeally it is the Jewish Church 
in its full development and spiritual form, as foretold 
by Jeremiah.^^ 

(2) It was said that David's throne should be built 
up to all generations (Psa. Ixxxix. 4). But it is true, 
so far as an earthly throne is concerned, that none of 
David's "'seed^' has reigned for over two thousand 
years. Has the prophecy failed? Daniel (ii. 4-1) said, 
" In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set 
up a kingdom,'^ or as Dr. Young would translate the 
passage, "raise up a Idngdom.^^ The word here ren- 
dered " shall set up ^^ is the same word used in Amos 
(ix. 11) translated " raise up," where it is said that God 
" will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen." 
James (Acts xv. 15, 16) claims that the prophecy of 
Amos had its fulfillment under the New Dispensation. 
The tabernacle of David was raised up. This means 
exactly the same thing as Daniers kingdom, which was 
raised up; and in accordance with prophecy Clirist as- 
sumed the throne of David, and has been reigning 
ever since. The prophecy has been fulfilled to the let- 
ter. David reigned over a small territory, but Christ, 
liis son, reigns over many nations. 

(3) The Gentiles v. ere to be brought in. The Church 
was thus admonished: " Enlarge the place of thy tent, 
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habi- 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 19 

tations: spare not^ lengthen thy cords, and strengthen 
thy stakes/^ The reason assigned for this is, that ^^thy 
seed shall inherit the Gentiles ^^ (Isa. liv. 2, 3). ^^And 
the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the 
brightness of thy rising ^^ (Isa. Ix. 3). From the New 
Testament, and the history of the Church in subsequent 
times, we learn how literally these, and kindred prophe- 
cies have been fulfilled. The Old Testament writers 
anticipated many things which are recorded in the New 
Testament, and which have their fulfillment in the 
Christian Church, when, according to God's plan, the 
Jewish Church was transformed into the Christian. 

2. The New Testament shows that the Christian 
Church was a development of the Jewish Church, — There 
can be no doubt that the roots of the Christian Church 
were planted deep in Hebrew soil. Had it been some- 
thing entirely new, most certainly some record would 
have been made of its beginning. But no one is able 
to place his finger upon a New Testament passage and 
say, ^^Here is the beginning of the Church.^' There is 
great lack of unanimity among those who have endeav- 
ored to do so. Surely a thing so important as the or- 
ganization of a Church would not be left in such doubt. 
The record of such an important event would be so 
plain that no . one could mistake its meaning ! 

(1) Christ was himself a member of the Jewish 
Church. He was born under its covenant relation, cir- 
cumcised, and brought up under its laws. He wor- 
shipped in the temple, and frequented the synagogues. 
He expounded the prophets, and showed that the 
Church was to enlarge its sphere of activities under the 
New Dispensation. He lived and died a member of tlie 
Jewish Church. 



20 IX FAX T CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

(2) The apostles that Christ gathered about him for 
training were all members of the Jewish Church. Pro- 
fessor Stifler is correct in saying that '"neither before 
his ascension nor after it did Jesus teach the disciples 
to organize a Church/"' With the exception of Paul 
not one of the apostles ever received Christian baptism, 
so far as we have any record of the matter. And the 
same thing can be affirmed of the entire number of dis- 
ciples assembled in that upper room on the day of Pen- 
tecost It was just before the ascension of the Master 
that he commissioned the apostles to administer Chris- 
tian baptism to those whom they should make disciples 
or proselytes. 

As has alre-ady been pointed out under ^'the transi- 
tion of the Jewish into the Christian Church/' the 
apostles did not break off from Judaism for years. 
Perhaps some of them never did. The rite of circum- 
cision was observed even after the council at Jerusalem, 
which determined that the Gentiles might come in 
without it (Acts xxi. 21). In the same chapter we find 
Paul taking a vow in order to prove to the Judaizers 
that he did not ignore the law. 

(3) In the parable of the vineyard (Matt. xxi. 33-43), 
Jesus taught the Jews that the vineyard (Church) 
should be taken from them and let out to other hus- 
bandmen. ^'The kingdom of God shall be taken from 
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
thereof.'"' Compare this parable with the prophecy in 
Psa. Ixxx. 8-16: Jer. ii. 21; Isa, v. 1-7. So then, we 
learn that the Church (kingdom or vineyard) was first 
committed to the Hebrews, but when they proved un- 
faithful it was let out to the Gentiles. 



TUE CHRISTIAX CHURCH. 



(4) Paul represents the Church as an olive tree 
(EonLxL lT-24). The Jews ''"because of unbelief/' he 
says, 'Vere broken off.'' The beheving Gentiles were 
grafted into this tree. Dr. Hackett says: '^e have 
here a very expreseiTe link between the prophecies of 
the Old Testament and the Xew Testament Finally, 
in the argumentation of St. Paul concerning the rela- 
tiye positions of the Jews and Gentiles in the counsels 
of God, this tree supplies the baas of one of his most 
forcible allegories.'' Dr. Bice affirms that ^'the oUve 
face is the Church, from which the Jewish nation (so 
fer as they rejected Christ) were broken off; into which 
the believing Gentiles were grafted, and into which 
the Jews, when converted to Christianity, shall be 
again introdnced. The conclnaon is inevitable, that 
tiiie Church to which the Jews belonged is the same into 
which the Crentiles were brought/' 

The apostles were the branches of the olive tree, 
which were never broken off. The Jews who did not 
receive Christ ^Tiecause of unbelief, were broken off/' 
hence when they did rec-eive him, they were baptized 
into his name. This was true of Paul. But those who 
were not broken off **bec-ause of unbeUef ' did not re- 
ceive Christian baptism^ because they had all along been 
in tiie Church. This periiaps explains why the apostles. 
save Paul, never received Christian baptism. 

In speaking of the Church, Dr. Beard says: *' Changes 
have been made in some of its ordinances, and in its 
mode of administration and development; but the or- 
ganization — ^the body — remains still the same. The 
changes which have been made have been such as are 
necessary to its more spiritual character. The service 
of the tabernacle, as the apostle expresses it, 'stood only 



22 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal or- 
dinances, imposed on them until the time of the refor- 
mation/ And the service of the tabernacle is a repre- 
sentative of the services of the ancient Church. These 
servicers, however, have been superseded by others more 
simple and more spiritual. Still the Church is the 



THE CONTINUITY OF THE CHURCH, 23 



lY.—THE FATHERS ON THE CONTINUITY 
OF THE CHURCH, 



Attention has already been directed to the fact that 
the New Testament does not give any record of the or- 
ganization of a new Chnrch; but that it shows an unmis- 
takable identity between the Church of the apostles and 
that of the prophets. In addition to the teaching of 
the Holy >Scriptures on this question^ it is interesting 
to inquire what the Fathers had to say on this subject. 
Their testimony is valuable as showing what was be- 
lieved in their times on the continuity of the Church 
under the two dispensations^ or the beginning of a new 
one just before their time. A few selections from their 
writings will suffice. 

1. Irenaeus, — This man was born about A.D. 120, 
and lived to the close of the second century. In writ- 
ing about the parable of the wicked husbandmen, he 
says: ^^ By these words he clearly points out to his dis- 
ciples one and the same householder — that is, one God 
the Father, who made all things by himself; while (he 
shows) that there are various husbandmen, some ob- 
stinate and proud, and worthless, and slayers of the 
Lord, but others who render him, mth all obedience, 
the fruits in their seasons; and that is the same House- 
holder who sends at one time his servants, at another 
his Son. From the Father, therefore, from whom the 
Son was sent to those husbandmen who slew him, from 
him also were the servants sent. . . . 



24 INFAXT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 

'^ Whom these men did therefore preach to the unbe- 
lievers as Lord^ him did Christ teach to those who obey 
Mm; and the God who had called those of the former 
dispensation, is the same as he who has received those 
of the latter. In other words, he who at first used the 
law which entails bondage, is also he who did in after 
times (call his people) by means of adoption. For God 
planted the vineyard of the human race when at first 
he formed Adam and chose the fathers; then he let ii 
out to husbandmen when he established the Mosaic dis- 
pensation: he hedged it round about, that is, he gave 
particular instructions with regard to their worship: he 
built a tower, (that is), he chose Jerusalem: he digged 
a winepress, that is, he prepared a receptacle of the 
prophetic spirit. And thus did he send prophets prior 
to the transmigration to Babylon, and after that event 
others again in greater number than the former, to seek 
the fruits. . . . 

" But last of all he sent to those unbelievers his own 
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the wicked husband- 
men cast out of the vineyai'd when they had slain liim. 
Wherefore the Lord God did even give it up (no longer 
hedged around, but thrown open throughout the world) 
to other husbandmen, who render fruits in their season, 
— the beautiful elect tower being raised everywhere. 
For the illustrations Church is now everywhere, and 
everywhere is the winepress digged: because those who 
do receive the Spirit are everywhere. For inasmuch as 
the former have rejected the Son of God, and cast him 
out of the vineyard when they slew him, God has justly 
rejected them, and given to the Gentiles outside the 
vineyard the fruits of its cultivation.'^ 



THE CONTINUITY OF THE CHURCH, 25 

2. Origen, — This Father lived from about 185 A.D. 
to tlie middle of the third century. He says: " Qy 
the words of Christ we do not mean those only which 
he spake when he became man and tabernacled in the 
flesh; for before that time^, Christy the Word of God^ 
was in Moses and the prophets. ... It would not 
be difl&cult to show, in proof of this statement, out of 
the Holy Scriptures, how Moses or the prophets both 
spake and performed all they did through being filled 
with the Spirit of Christ.^^ 

3. Cyprian, — About the first half of the third cen- 
tury embraced the life of this writer. "In Isaiah: 
Eejoice, thou barren, that barest not; break forth and 
cry, thou that travailest not: because many more are the 
children of the desolate one than of her who hath an 
husband. For the Lord hath said, enlarge the place 
of thy tabernacle, and of thy curtains, and fasten them: 
spare not, make long thy measures, and strengthen thy 
stakes: stretch forth yet to thy right hand and to thy 
left hand: and thy seed shall possess the nations, and 
shall inhabit the desert cities. Fear not because thou 
shalt overcome: nor be afriad because thou aii; cursed, 
for thou shalt forget thy eternal confusion.^^ It is 
hardly necessaiy to say that Cyprian makes these words 
refer to the Church. He does the same with the follow- 
ing: "In Joel: Blow with the trumpet in Sion; 
sanctify a fast, and call a healing; assemble the people, 
sanctify the Church, gather the elders, collect the little 
ones that suck the breast.'^ 

4. Constitutions of the Holy Apostles. — " The Apos- 
tolic Constitutions are a compilation, the materials be- 
ing derived from sources differing in age.'' " The firs I 



26 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

six books were written at the end of the third century^ 
the remaining two at the beginning of the fourth; at all 
events before the Conncil of Nicaea/^ In book I., sec- 
tion 1, it is said that " The Catholic Church is the plan- 
tation of God^ and his beloved vineyard/^ 

In book 11.^ section 4^ is the following: "' Hear this, 
you of the laity also, the elect Church of God, For the 
people were formerly called ^ The people of God/ and 
^ an holy nation/ You, therefore, are the holy and 
sacred ' Church of God, enrolled in heaven, a royal 
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,^ a bride 
adorned for the Lord God, a great Church, a faithful 
Church. 

^' Hear attentively now what was said formerly: 
oblations and tithes belong to Christ our High Priest, 
and to those who minister to him. . . . Hear, 
thou Holy Catliolic Church, who hast escaped the ten 
plagues, and hast received the t^n commandments, and 
hast learned the law, and hast kept the faith, and hast 
believed in Jesus. . . . 

" Those which v/ere then the sacrifices now are pray- 
ers, and intercessions, and thanksgiving. Those which 
were then first-f raits, and tithes and offerings, and gifts, 
now ai'e oblations, which are presented by holy 
bishops to the Lord God, through Jesus Christ, who 
has died for them. 

'^ For these are your high priests, as the presbyters 
are your priests, and 3'our present deacons instead of 
your Levites; as are also your readers, your singers, your 
porters, your deaconesses, your widows, your virgins, 
and your orphans: but he who is above all these is the 
High Priest/' 



TUB CONTINUITY OF THE CHURCH. 27 

5. Euselius. — The historian, in showing that Chris- 
tianity was not something new, says: "' In this wav 
will the antiquity and divinity of Christianity be shown 
to those who suppose it of recent and foreign origin, 
and imagined that it appeared only yesterday/^ 

6. Augustin. — In his exposition of the fifth psalm 
says: ^^ Wherefore it is the voice of the Church in this 
psalm called to her inheritance, that she too may her- 
self become the inheritance of the Lord/^ 

Again, he writes: "For the Church existed at first 
before the law; then under the law, which was given by 
Moses; then under grace, which was first made manifest 
in the coming of the Mediator. Xot, indeed, that thi? 
grace w^as absent previously, but, in harmony with the 
arrangements of the time, it was veihd and hidden. 
For none, even of the just men of old, could find salva- 
tion apart from the faith of Christ; nor unless he had 
been known to them could their ministry have been 
used to convey prophecies concerning him to us, some 
more plain, and some more obscure.^^ 

No word of comment is needed on these selections, 
which could be largely increased did space pernnt. 
These Church Fathers believed that the Church, of 
which they were members, was in existence in Old 
Testament times; yes, even "before the law.^^ How 
came they to hold to such an idea? It must have been 
because Christ and his apostles taught the same thing. 
We have already seen that tliis is the doctrine of both 
the Old and the Xew Testaments. 



28 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 



Y.— BAPTISM VERSUS CIRCUMCISION. 



Dr. Scliaff says^ ^^ Circumcision was in the synagogue 
what baptism is in the Churchy a divinely appointed 
sign and seal of the covenant of man with G-od/^ Dean 
Milman calls baptism ^Hhe substituted ceremony ^^ for 
circumcision. Paul in writing to the Philippians (iii. 
3) says, ^'^For we are the circumcision, which worship 
God in the spirit.^^ To the Colossians (ii. 11) he says, 
^^ In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcis- 
ion made without hands.^^ In commenting on this verse, 
Chrysostom said, "It is the body both in the one and 
the other case, but in the one it is carnally, in the other 
it is spiritually circumcised; but not as the Jews, for ye 
have not put off the flesh, but sins. When and where? 
In baptism.^^ It has already been shown that Christ 
and liis apostles were members of the Jewish Church; 
and that no new Church was organized by them, but 
that this Church was gradually transformed into the 
Christian Church. Dr. ISTeander well says that Christ 
^^ aimed rather to implant the germ, to give the initial 
impulse of a total intellectual renovation, by which men 
might be enabled to grasp, with a new spirit, the new 
truths of the kingdom of God.^^ Circumcision which 
was a peculiar religious rite among the Jews had to be 
displaced by something which would be more appUca- 
ble to the various nations to which the gospel was to be 
preached. Circumcision was regarded by the neighbors 
of the Jews as being not only a religious rite among 



BAPTISM VERSUS CIRCUMCISION. 29 

them, but also a land of national peculiarity. Gentiles 
would have been slow to submit to it. While circum- 
cision served its purpose well under the Old Dispensa- 
tion, being a bloody rite and applicable to males only, 
it did not comport with the broader spirit of the gospel. 
Hence when Christ commissioned his apostles, he did 
not enjoin circumcision, but m its stead he named 
baptism ^^ Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the 
nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and 
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost '' (Matt, xxviii. 19, 
E. v.). 

We have already seen that three things were required 
of all the male proselytes, namely, circumcision, bap- 
tism, and a sacrifice; and that the two latter were re- 
quired of every female proselyte. We are informed that 
the Pharisees and scribes would " compass sea and land 
to make one proselyte.^^ The meaning of the Savior 
must have been perfectly imderstood by the apos- 
tles. The Church of which they were all members 
made proselytes from the nations as already indicated. 
Christ did not see fit to impose all the Jewish require- 
ments upon prospective disciples, or proselytes, so he 
di-opped the first and third — circumcision and sacri- 
fice; and named baptism only. The rite which he selec- 
ted for his Church under the New Dispensation, in its 
nature is suited to both sexes, of all ages, in all climes, 
in all times, and under all circumstances. This is in 
keeping with the spirit of world-wide evangelism on 
which the Church was to enter. 

Paul tells us that Abraham '' received the sign of cir- 
cumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which 
he had being yet uncircumcised (Eom. iv. 11). Cyril of 



30 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 

Jerusalem speaks of ^^ circumcision as a seal of the 
faith '^ of Abraham; and says: ^^ Following upon our 
faiths we receive like him the spiritual seal, being cir- 
cumcised by the Holy Spirit through baptism, not in 
the foreskin of the body, but in the heart/^ See Deut. 
X. 16; Jere. iv. 4. Augustin says that ^'circumcision 
relates to what is a kind of seal of salvation/^ Eusebius 
and Gregory JSTazianzen both refer to baptism as a seal. 
In the Pastor of Hermas we read that ^' the seal is the 
water.'^ 

Dr. McCalla quotes Epiphanius as follows: " The 
law had the circumcision in the flesh, serving for a time, 
till the great circumcision came, that is, baptism; which 
circumcises us from our sins, and seals us unto the name 
of God/^ Dr. Wall gives the following from Chysos- 
tom: ^'But our circumcision, I mean the grace of bap- 
tism, gives cure without pain, and procures to us a thou- 
sand benefits, and fills us with the grace of the Spirit: 
and it has no determinate time, as that had; but one 
that is in the middle of it, or one that is in his old age, 
may receive this circumcision made without hands/^ 

Augustin thus speaks of circumcision and baptism: 
^^We can form a true conjecture of the value of the 
sacrament of baptism in the case of infants, from the 
parallel of circumcision, which was received by God^s 
earUer people, and before receiving which Abraham was 
justified, as Cornelius also was enriched with the gift of 
the Holy Spirit before he was baptized. ... As 
therefore in Abraham the justification of faith came 
first, and circumcision was added afterwards as the seal 
of faith; so in Cornelius the spiritual sanctification came 
first in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the sacrament 
of regeneration was added afterwards in the laver of 



BAPTISM VERSUS CIRCUMCISION. 31 

baptism. And as in Isaac^ who was circumcised on the 
eighth day after his birth, the seal of this ricfhteousness 
of faith was oriven first, and afterwards, as he imitated 
the faith of his father, the righteousness itself followed 
as he grew up, of which the seal had been given before 
when he was an infant; so in infants, who are baptized, 
the sacrament of regeneration is given first, and if they 
maintain a Christian piety, conversion also in the heart 
will follow, of which the mysterious sign had gone be- 
fore in the outward body/' 

" The same holy John,*' writes Dr. Wall, '^ even he 
as well as the martjT Cyprian, teaches that the circum- 
cision of the flesh was commanded in way of a type of 
baptism. Then St. Austin adds, you see how this man 
established in the ecclesiastical doctrine compares cir- 
cumcision to circumcision, and threat to threat: that 
which is not to be circumcised on the eighth day; that 
is not to be baptized in Christ: and what is to be cut o£E 
from his people; that is not to enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. And yet you (Pelagians) say that in the 
baptism of infants there is no putting off the flesh, i. e., 
no circumcision made without hands; when you affirm 
that they have nothing which needs to be put off: for 
you do not confess them to be dead in the uncircumcis- 
ion of flesh, by which is meant sin, especially that sin 
which is derived originally.'^ 

Cyprian writes: ^' In respect to the observance of the 
eighth day in the Jev.'ish circumcision of the flesh, a 
sacrament was given beforehand in shadow and usage; 
but when Christ came it was fulfilled in truth.'' Then 
he proceeds to show that it was not necessary to delay 
baptism until the eighth day. 

Dr. Wall shows from Ambrose, that " neither a prose- 



32 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

lyte that is old, nor an infant born in the house, is ex- 
cepted; because every age is obnoxious to sin, and there- 
fore every age is proper for the sacrament. He also 
applies this to spiritual circumcision and baptism, and 
says the meaning of the mystery is plain. Those bom 
in the house are Jews, those bought with money are the 
Gentiles that believed: for the Church is bought with 
a price of Christ^s blood. Therefore both Jew and 
Gentile, and all that believe, must learn to circumcise 
themselves from sin, that they may be saved. Both the 
home-born and the foreigner, the just and the sinful, 
must be circumcised by the forgiveness of sins, so as 
not to practice sin any more: for no person comes to the 
kingdom of heaven but by the sacrament of baptism.^^ 

Justin MartjT will close our list of citations on this 
question: *^^And we who have approached God through 
him, have received not carnal, but spiritual circumcis- 
ion, which Enoch and those like him observed. And 
we have received it through baptism.^^ 

The quotations herein given show that in the opinion 
of the Fathers baptism sustains practically the same re- 
lation to the 'New Dispensation that circumcision sus- 
tained to the Old Dispensation; consequently when the 
New succeeded the Old Dispensation, baptism succeeded 
circumcision. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUESTION, 33 



Y1,—THE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUES- 
TION. 



We have already considered '^the Jewish Church/' 
and found that infant cliildren were included in its 
membership. We have seen how Gentiles^ adults and 
infants, became members (proselytes) of this Church. 
We have traced the Jewish Church through its transi- 
tion into the Christian Church. We have heard the 
Fathers^ and considered other evidences, on the con- 
tinuity of the Church. We have seen that baptism be- 
came ^^ the substituted ceremony ^^ for circumcision. 
It is next in order to inquire what the New Testament 
teaches on the question of infant' Church membership. 

1. The Commission. — " Go ye therefore, and make 
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
I have commanded you.^^ Dr. Wall truly says that 
^^ the meaning and full import of a rule given in any 
old book for the doing of anything is not so well appre- 
hended by us, unless we understand the history of that 
nation and of that time in which the said rule was 
given. And this holds especially for such rules as are 
expressed in very short and general words.^^ What has 
already been said, on the subjects named above, will 
enable us to more fully understand and appreciate the 
commission which is " expressed in very short and gen- 
eral words.^^ 
3 



34 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

(1) Note the difference between the Authorized and 
Eevised Versions. The Eevised Version correctly ren- 
ders the original (matheteusate), ^^ make disciples ^^ in- 
stead of ^Heach/^ Dr. Carson^ the great Baptist 
scholar, says: ^^It is well known that the word cor- 
responding to teach (A.V.), in the first instance in 
which it occurs in this passage^, signifies to disciple, or 
make scholars/^ This word (matheieusate) translated 
^^make disciples ^^ is an aorist imperative. Dr. Winer 
tells us that "the aorist imperative donates an action 
that is eithsr transient and instantaneous, or to be un- 
dertaken but once.^^ This, of course, is very different 
from the word {didaskontes) rendered "teaching," in 
the commission, where the " teaching ^^ must often be 
repeated, or continued. 

(2) A nation consists of both adults and infants. 
The one class is as much a part of the nation as the 
other. The commission is not exclusive, but inclusive, 
therefore a large part of the nations could not have 
been left out. It is well understood tiiat when a heath- 
en nation heard the gospel, that the parents had to be 
proselyted before the children could be brought into 
covenant relation. Like the proselytes who came into 
the Jewish Church, they were expected to bring their 
children with them, the same rite being used for both 
paj'ents and children. The childrea born after the 
parents became members were to be baptized, just as 
the cliildren bom to Jewish proselytes, after they be- 
came members of the Church, were to be circumcised. 

(3) We have abundant evidence that children could 
become disciples. We are told (Num. iii. 28) that " all 
the males, from a month old and upward, were . . . 



IHE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUESTION, 35 

keeping the charge of the sanctuary/^ An infant that 
could keep '' charge of the sanctuary " certainly could 
be discipled in the meaning of the commission. We 
have every reason to belieye that the infants of the 
nations were included in the commission. It had all 
along been the custom of the Church of which both 
Christ and the apostles were members to recognize in- 
fant membership. There was no new Church organ- 
ized. There was not a word said that would lead the 
apostles to suspect that the infants were to be excluded. 
The law with which they were familiar recognized in- 
fant membership, certainly until that law was repealed 
the apostles would not think of denying membership 
to the infant children of believers. That law was never 
repealed. This was Peter^s view, for on the day of 
Pentecost, he preached that ^^ the promise is unto you, 
Mid to your children/' 

Dr. Gallaher declares that there is ^^ no record of any 
JeVs being baptized but those who rejected the Mes- 
siah, and had been, for that ^ cut off,^ ^ excommunica- 
ted ^ (Acts iii. 22, 23) from the Church of God, and had 
to come back just as the heathen did.^^ These Jews 
who accepted Christ on this occasion had been broken 
off because of unbelief, hence when they accepted him 
as the Messiah, they were baptized into his name. But 
their infant children, who had been circumcised, and 
were members of the Church, had not rejected the 
Messiah, and consequently did not need to be baptized 
into his name like their parents. According to the 
doctrine of their Church, baptism could mean nothing 
more to their infants than circumcision, which they 
hand already received. For these reasons we read of 



36 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 



no infant" s being baptized on this occasion; but Peter 
does not fail to tell them that the promise was to their 
children. 

Justin Martyr, who Avas born about eighty years later, 
said, ^^ Several persons among ns of sixty and seventy 
years old, of both sexes, who were discipled to Christ 
in, or from their childhood, do continue uncorrupted/^ 
Here Ave have several persons who were discipled in 
childhood, or as Dr. Eobinson would put it, while they 
were "httle children,'^ during the ministry of the 
apostles themselves. Dr. Wall points out the fact that 
Justin employs the very same word, ^^ were discipled/^ 
that the Lord used in the commission. We must 
therefore, conclude that the commission, as understood 
by the apostles, fully authorized them to recognize in- 
fant Church membership, and that they did so. 

3. Family Baptisms, — In the account of family bap- 
tisms we find two words that must be carefully noted. 
Dr. William Hamilton speais of them as follows: 
^^ ^ OiJcos/ means either a house or a family contained 
in it. It has been confounded with ^ Oilcia ' — which 
has, in Greek, a larger and more comprehensive mean- 
ing, somewhat equivalent to household, including ser- 
vants or slaves. Oilcos is the word, which occurs in 
connection with what have been loosely called 'house- 
Iwld haptisms/ That it has special reference to chil- 
dren, we may learn from the Greek of the Septuagint, 
2 Sam. vii. 11, 25, 27, where an Oilcos, ^a house,^ is 
promised to David. In 1 Kings xi. 38, a similar prom- 
ise of a family (^ Oikos ') is made to Solomon. In 
Deut. XXV. 9, the law is given respecting the building 
up of a brothers ^ oikos,^ by the i^iarriage of his widow. 



FHE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUESTION, 37 

Paul exhorts young women, 1 Tim. v. 14, to marry, 
bear children, and rule the house, or to despotize the 
' oikos,^ Many more examples might be given, evi- 
dently signifpng or including little children, infants. 

^^The narrative of the centurion^s conversion. Acts 
X., affords a fine illustration of the difference between 
oikos and oikia, Cornelius feared God with all his 
family (oikos). He saw a vision in his private residence 
(oikos) and sent messengers to Joppa, who found Peter 
in the oikia of Simon the tanner. This oikia of Simon 
is mentioned repeatedly in the narrative. Simon^s 
house (oikia) included large premises. His oikos is not 
mentioned at all. The distinction thus maintained is 
uniformly observed in the Scriptures.^^ 

It is worthy of note that every instance of a family 
baptism recorded in the New Testament is that of a 
Gentile, where faith is affirmed of a head of the family 
only. How does it happen that no family baptisms 
occurred among the Jews, who by thousands accepted 
Christ as the Messiah? It must have been for the rea- 
son just assigned for no cliildren's being baptized on 
the day of Pentecost. The children of the Jews had 
been circumcised, and were already in covenant rela- 
tion. They had not by unbehef been broken off, and 
hence did not need the sign of being ^^ grafted in.'' 
When Gentile parents were admitted to the Church by 
baptism, without circumcision, their children were 
admitted by the same rite. 

It will be next in order to examine the family bap- 
tisms recorded in the New Testament. 

(1) ^^And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of 
purpie, of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped 



38 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 

God^ heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, to give 
heed imto the things which were spoken by Paul. And 
when she was baptized, and her household, she be- 
sought us, saying, if ye have judged me to be faithful 
to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. 
And she constrained us '^ (Acts xvi. 14, 15, R. V.). The 
pronoun ^^ us '^ means Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke. 
These men went on for some days with their gospel 
work, when Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. 
After their release they saw the brethren (Timothy and 
Luke), and ^^ comforted them, and departed ^^ (verse 
40). 

Observe that Lydia alone worshipped God; she alone 
heard the gospel; it was her heart that God opened; she 
alone extended an invitation to these men to go into 
her house; she alone constrained them; yet she and 
^^ her household ^^ (oikos) had been baptized. 

Now there were other persons besides herself baptized. 
There is not a word said about their believing. We 
have no right to presume that they did believe. Were 
these persons old enough to exercise faith, or were they 
infant children? We have seen that the original word 
{pikos) is the word used to ^^ signify or include little 
children, infants.^^ There is no reason why we should 
depart from the general law of interpretation. In view 
of all the recorded facts, and the use of this word, we 
are led to the conclusion that those baptized with Lydia 
were infants. 

One of two things is true. Either those baptized 
were infants, and were baptized on the faith of Lydia, 
or they were old enough to exercise faith for themselves, 
but not doing so, were baptized without faith. ^^But," 
some interpose, "we infer that all who were baptized 



THE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUESTION. 39 

with Lydia were old enough to exercise faith^ and did so, 
though there is no record of the fact/^ To this it may 
be replied that others have equally as good a right to 
infer that those who were baptized along with Lydia 
were infant children; yes, a better right, w^hen it is re- 
membered that gUiOS includes "little children, infants.'^ 

(2) "And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, 
with all that were in his house. And he took them the 
same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and 
was baptized, he and all his, immediately. And he 
brought them up into his house, and set meat before 
them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having 
believed in God^^ (Acts xvi. 32-34, E.V.). In this case 
there are both a family (oiJcos) and certain other persons 
(who with the family are called an oikia). 

The jailer inquired, " What must I do to be saved? ^^ 
The reply was, " Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou 
shalt be saved, and thy house ^^ {oihos, family). "And 
they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that 
were in his house ^^ (oikia^ including, perhaps prisoners 
and servants). The narrative goes on to say that " he 
took them the same hour of the night, and washed their 
stripes; and was baptized, he and all his immediately/' 
" Then he took them into his (oikos) his family apart- 
ments, set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing 
in God with all his (oikos) family. The Greek words 
for believing and rejoicing, in this passage, are in the 
singular number. He believed and rejoiced as the 
representative of the family, who believed and rejoiced 
with him and in him. The Abrahamic covenant in- 
cluded the children. It was preached by Paul, and ex- 
emplified by the jailer and his family.'^ 

In the Greek, the phrase " w^ith all his house,'' is one 



40 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

single word (panoiki), an adverb modifying the verb 
^^ rejoiced ^^ — and it tells how, or in what manner, he 
rejoiced. 

Dr. Gallaher says: ^^He rejoiced ^domestically/ or 
over his children, now ^ discipled ^ to the Lord Jesus. 
He rejoiced just as any other fond parent will, when he 
has realized the full meaning of what the apostle said 
when he told him in verse 31, ^ Believe on the Lord 
Jesus, and thou shalt be saved and thy family/ The 
penitent, convicted jailer simply believed the word of 
the apostles — as the ministers and servants of the Lord 
Jesus — and when he had taken God at his word, he was 
willing to trust the Lord for the salvation of liis children, 
and he ^ rejoiced^ — was filled with joy inexpressible — 
at the privilege of having his children ^ discipled ^ and 
baptized ^ along with himself .^^ 
The use of these words (oihos and oilcia) indicate that 
there were small children in the jailer's family. Un- 
less we go beyond the record it is certain that none be- 
lieved except the jailer himself. The Greek text posi- 
tively settles that. It is equally certain that others be- 
sides the jailer were baptized. As in the case of Lydia, 
these other persons must have been small cliildren who 
were baptized on the faith of the father; or else they 
were competent to exercise faith, but not doing so, were 
baptized without it. The objector to infant church 
membership may take either horn of the dilemma he 
pleases. 

(3) ^^And I baptized the household {oihos) of Steph- 
anas ^' (1 Cor. i. 16). What has already been said on the 
word family (oihos) is equally applicable here. Dr. 
Hamilton says, " that there were infant children in each 
oihos (family) of those who have mentioned amounts to 



'IHE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE QUESTION. 41 

a moral certainty/^ Dr. Summers thinks that "the fam- 
ilies baptized were more likely to comprehend children 
than adults, for the latter would not have been baptized 
except on their personal profession of faith, whereas the 
children would be baptized on the responsibility of their 
parents. Hence the frequency of family baptisms/^ 
But in the cases of Lydia and the jailer, we found that 
persons were baptized without maldng any profession 
of faith. Inasmuch as we can hardly believe that the 
missionaries would have baptized adults without such a 
requirement, we are forced to the conclusion that the 
term family {oikos) is to be taken in its original significa- 
tion as "including little children, infants/^ In the 
cas« of Stephanas we do not have as many facts from 
which we may draw conclusions, but yet there is no ap- 
parent reason for changing the meaning of the word 
family {oikos) from its usual signification. 

3. Circumcision in the Apostolic Times. — Attention 
has already been called to the fact that the Jewish 
Christians continued to practice circumcision for a long 
time. Twenty years after Pentecost a council was held 
in Jerusalem to consider whether the law of circumcis- 
ion should be enforced on the Gentiles, who desired to 
become Christians. It was decided not to require this 
of the Gentiles. See Acts xv. 

TertuUian makes the following comment on the re- 
sult of this coimcil: "The reason why the Holy Spirit 
did, when the apostles at that time were consulting, re- 
lax the bond and yoke for us (Gentiles), was that we 
might be free to devote ourselves to the shunning of 
idolatry.^^ He, therefore, understood that the Jewish 
Christians practiced circumcision. 



42 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

James and the elders at Jerusalem said unto Paul: 
^^Thou seest^ brother^ how many thousands of Jews 
there are wliieh believe; and they are all zealous of the 
law; and they are informed of thee^ that thou teachest 
all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake 
Moses^ saying that they ought not to circumcise their 
children^^ (Acts xxi. 20^21). Tliis was eight years after 
the council of which we have a record in chapter xy._, 
or twenty-eight years after Pentecost^ when the apostles 
began their work under the great commission. 

In all this time these Jews continued to practice cir- 
cumcision^ and that too, without the opposition, if not 
by the teaching of the apostles. This clearly estab- 
lishes the fact that the apostles understood that child- 
ren were to continue to sustain the same relation to the 
Church under the jSfew Dispensation that they had sus- 
tained under the Old Dispensation. Suppose the coun- 
cil at Jerusalem had decided that it was necessary for 
the Gentiles, in becoming Christians, to be circumcised, 
would they not have been expected to have their child- 
ren circumcised according to the law? Since only bap- 
tism was required of the Gentiles, would they not, ac- 
cording to the law of making proselytes, be expected to 
have their children baptized? 

We have seen that Christ named baptism instead of 
circumcision in the commission. Suppose that he had 
said to the apostles: "Go ye therefore, and make dis- 
ciples of all the nations, circumcising them into the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
Ghost,'^ would they not all have understood that infant 
children were to be circumcised? 



TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS. 43 



\IL— THE FATHERS ON THE BAPTISM OF 
INFANTS, 



The writings of the Fathers are very voluminous. 
Only a few selections can be presented in the space set 
apart for this phase of our subject. In the very begin- 
ning it must be noted that the Fathers often use the 
words "baptism^^ and ^"^regeneration^^ interchangeably. 
Irenaeus speaks of a class of men ^'^instigated by Satan 
to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to 
God.^^ He informs us that Christ gave to "the disci- 
ples the power of regeneration unto God.^^ He also re- 
fers to "that regeneration which takes place by means 
of the laver.'^ Justin Martyr says: "Then they are 
brought by us where there is water^ and are regenerated 
in the same manner in which we were ourselves regen- 
erated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord 
of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of 
the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with 
water.^^ Augustin affirms that "infant children, even 
when they are newly born, can be delivered from per- 
dition in no other way than through the grace of 
Christ^ s name, which he has given in his sacraments." 
Ambrose says; ^T!^or is there the sacrament of regener- 
ation without water.^^ In the Kght of tliis interchange- 
able use of the words "baptism^^ and "'regeneration " 
some of the following quotations will be more easily 
understood. The fact that some of the Fathers at- 
tributed a saving efficacy to baptism does not affect 



44 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

the testimony which they bear to the fact that infants 
were baptized. In their opinion baptism had the same 
effect on adults that it had on infants. 

1. Irenaeus. — This Father was born early in the sec- 
ond century, and lived to its close. He was a pupil of 
Poly carp who suffered martyrdom about 167, at the age 
of 90. Polycarp had been a pupil of St. John by whom 
he was consecrated bishop of Smyrna. Irenaeus says 
that ^Tolycarp was not only instructed by apostles, and 
conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was 
also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the 
Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, 
for he tarried (on earth) a very long time, and, when a 
very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering mar- 
t}Tdom, departed this hfe, having always taught the 
things which he had learned from the apostles, and 
wliich the Church has handed do^Ti, and which alone 
are true. For these things all the Asiatic Churches 
testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Poly- 
carp down to the present time.^^ He informs us that 
he could ^^describe the very place in which the blessed 
Polycarp sat as he discoursed, and his goings out and his 
comings in, and the manner of his life, and his physical 
appearance, and his discourses to the people, and the ac- 
counts wliich he gave of his intercourse with John and 
the others who had seen the Lord, and as he remem- 
bered their words, and what he heard from them con- 
cerning the Lord, and concerning his miracles and his 
teaching, having received them from eye witnesses of 
the Word of life, Polycarp related all things in har- 
mony with the Scriptures. ^^ Polycarp received the doc- 
trines of Christ from St. John and others who had seen 



TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS. 45 

the Lord. Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp, so he be- 
comes a very valuable witness as to the practice of the 
Church, not only in his own time, but also in the apos- 
tolic times, for ^^through this link (Polycarp) he still 
was connected with the Johannean age. The spirit of his 
preceptor passed over to him.^^ Hear what he says: 
"For he (Christ) came to save all through means of 
himself — all, I say, who through him are born again 
(regenerated) to God — infants, and children, and boys, 
and youths, and old men." The fact has already been 
pointed out that Irenaeus speaks of ^TDaptism which is 
regeneration to God," and that other Fathers write in 
the same way. When he mentions infants "bom again 
(regenerated) to God," he evidently means the baptiz- 
ing of them. So here we have the testimony of a man 
who received his authoritj^ from an eye witness of the 
apostles, and had received from John himself the teach- 
ings of Christ. 

2. TertiiTlian, — This writer lived in the last part of 
the second century. He says: "According to the cir- 
cumstances and disposition, and even age, of each indi- 
vidual, the delay of baptism is preferable; principally, 
however, in the case of little children. For why is it 
necessary — if (baptism itself) is not so necessary — that 
the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger?'^ 
The foregoing has frequently been quoted to prove 
that Tertullian was opposed to the baptism of infants. 
But those who do so misapprehend his meaning. "For 
no less cause," he continues, "must the un wedded also 
be deferred — in whom the ground of temptation is 
prepared, alike in such as never were wedded by means 
of their maturity, and in the widowed by means of 



46 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

their freedom — until they either marry, or else be more 
fully strengthened for continence. If any understand 
the vreighty import of baptism^, they will fear its recep- 
tion more than its delay: sound faith is secure of sal- 
vation/''' Tertullian was just as much opposed to the 
baptism of the ^*imwedded/^ whether they were ^^'such 
as neyer were wedded/^ or the ^^widowed'^ as he was to 
the ^''baptism of infants/^ He would delay baptisui in 
all cases until such time as the danger of losing its 
benefit before death might be removed. We are not 
concerned so much with either his opinion, or the 
opinions of other Fathers, as we are with the simple 
teatimon)^ which they bear to facts. According to 
TertulKan, the Church in his time baptized infaats. 
He did not object to their being baptized on the ground 
that it was an innovation. His opinion on the ques- 
tion of the baptism of infante has no more weight than 
his opinion that ^^sucli as never were wedded"* and '^the 
widowed^^ should not be baptized. Yet his testimony 
to the fact that the Church gave baptism to infants is 
of great value. 

3. Origen, — Origen lived from 185 to 254. His 
father was a Christian, and he was brought up in the 
Ivnowledge of the Scriptures, and was doubtless famil- 
iar with the practice of the Church. Through his 
Christian father, whom the exhorted to suffer martyr- 
dom rather than recant, he had imdoubtedly learned 
the customs of the Church as far back as the first half 
of the second century. Eusebius assures us that his 
forefathers had been Christians for several generations. 
His grandfather or his great grandfather must have 
lived in the apostles^ time, so that he could easily learn 



TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS}. 47 



from his own family what the practice of the Church 
had been. Moreover he traveled throughout the em- 
pire, visiting many of the large cities, including Rome, 
and spent a part of his life in Palestine. So by obser- 
vation he would know the practice of the Churches; 
and if there had been any difference in their practice 
he would most certainly have referred to it. 

Dr. Wall quotes Origen as follows: ^^Let it be con- 
sidered, what is the reason that whereas the baptism of 
the Church is given for forgiveness of sins, infants also 
are by the usage of the Church baptized: when if there 
were nothing in infants that wanted forgiveness and 
Miercy, the grace of baptism would be needless to them. 
. . . For this also it was, that the Church had from 
the apostles a tradition (or order) to give baptism to 
infants.^^ 

From this Father we learn two things. (1) That 
beyond all doubt the early Church did give baptism to 
infants, and (2) that the Church had instructions from 
the apostles to that effect. Dr. Wall observes: "The 
plainness of these testimonies is such as needs nothing 
to be said of it, nor admits anything to be said against 
it. They do not only suppose the practice to be gener- 
ally known and used, but also mention its being order- 
ed by the apostles.^^ 

4. Cyprian. — This learned man was baptized into 
the Christian faith about 245. He vrrote to Fidus 
what the decision of a council was on the question, not 
whether infants should be baptized, but whether they 
should be baptized before tlu eighth day. After setting 
forth his argument he says: "^If even to the greatest 
sinners, and to those who had sinned much against 



48 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 

God^ when they subsequently believed, remission of 
sins is granted — and nobody is hindered from baptism 
and from grace — how much rather ought we to shrink 
from hindering an infant, who, being lately born, has 
not sinned, except in that, being born after the flesh 
according to Adam.'^ There was no question raised 
here as to whether the baptism of infants was scriptur- 
al, and in accordance with the practice of the Church. 
There is no doubt that the settled policy of the Churcii 
was to baptize infants. The question which Fidus had 
presented, and on which the council (of sixty-six) had 
passed, was, whether an infant might be baptized be- 
fore it was eight days old. As has been seen Cyprian 
reported that it was not necessary to wait even until 
the child was eight days old to baptize it. 

5. Augustin. — This noted man hved from 354 to 
430. In his letter to Boniface he says: ^*^You ask me 
to state Vhether parents do harm to their baptized in- 
fant cliildren, when they attempt to heal them in time 
of sickness by sacrifices to the false gods of the heath- 
en.^ ^^ His answer may be summed up in his own 
words as follows: "WTien the grace of Christ has been 
once received, the child does not lose it othenvise than 
by his own impiety, if, when he becomes older, he turn 
out so ill. For by that time he will begin to have sins 
of his own, which cannot be removed by regeneration, 
but must be healed by other remedial measures.'' In 
the same letter he speaks thus: ^^An infant, although 
he is not yet a believer in the sense of having that faith 
which includes the consenting will of those who exer- 
cise it, nevertheless becomes a believer through the 
sacrament of that faith. For as it is answered that he 



TESTIMONY OF TEE FATHERiS. 49 

believes^ so also he is called a believer, not because he 
assents to the truth by an act of his own judgment, 
but because he receives the sacrament of that truth. 
When, however, he begins to have the discretion of 
manhood, he will not repeat the sacrament, but under- 
stand its meaning, and become conformed to the truth 
which it contains, wdth his will also consenting.^^ 

From the short references given, the conclusion is 
inevitable that it was the custom of the Christian 
Church in its early history to baptize infants. We are 
not concerned with the pecuKar theological view of any 
of these early writers. They have been introduced to 
prove a fact — the fact that the baptism of infants was 
a doctrine believed and practiced by the early Chris- 
tians. If the testimony of the Fathers can be relied 
on, and as to the matter of fact it certainly can be, 
there can be no doubt of the attitude of the Church on 
this question during the first four hundred years of the 
Christian era. Augustin sums it up in these words: 
'^f any one seek for divine authority in this matter 
(baptism of infants), though what is held by the whole 
Church, and that not as instituted by councils, but as 
a matter of invariable custom, is rightly held to have 
been handed down by apostolical authority, still we can 
form a true conjecture of the value of the sacrament of 
baptism in the case of infants, from the parallel of cir- 
cumcision, which was received by God^s earlier people." 

Those who do not believe in the baptism of infants 
have never been able to agree among themselves as to 
the time or the place of its origin. It is rather singu- 
lar that such an innovation could have crept into the 
Church ^\ithout ever receiving anv notice from the his- 



50 INFANT CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

torians and other writers, who were ever ready to spy 
out anything new. Dr. SchaJff says: "No time can be 
assigned to the beginning of the practice of infant bap- 
tism. If it had been an innovation, it would have 
created a revolution, or at all events provoked a violent 
protest, but it gained ground gradually from the very 
beginning, as Christianity took hold of family life and 
training/^ 

We have seen that Christ and the apostles were all 
members of the Jewish Church; that that Church pass- 
ing through a transition became what was later called 
the Christian Church; that no new Church was organ- 
ized; that it was the custom in the times of our Savior 
to admit children to membership in the Church; that 
he did not repeal the law; that the IsTew Testament 
implies, if it does not give a positive statement, that 
infants were to enjoy this privilege; and finally that the 
testimony of the Fathers establishes the fact that the 
early Church did admit infants to membership. 

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